Dolphins On Greek Coins: Their Geographical Distribution

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Author	Replies: 7 / Views: 5,319
DVCollector Bedrock of the Community United States 10045 Posts	Posted 02/13/2012 10:00 pm After discussing a few Greek coins bearing a dolphin, I followed a hunch to see if there was any reason for it, outside of mythology or simply as a decoration. After researching several dozen Greek coins with dolphins, I have mapped out the location of their minting. It would be easy to use "selection bias" here, but I plotted every location I found on the map below--showing an example from each city. I made this map for other collectors--as a point of reference of both the coins and their cities. It's certainly interesting how all these coins come from coastal/port cities. Since coins were used in commerce, and ports were very important in trade, perhaps these coins advertise the fact? Just guesses here--no conclusions. Map showing geographical distribution, specific coins are shown below. 1. Neopolis 2. Paestum 3. Messana 4. Syracuse 5. Metapontum 6. Taras 7. Dyrrachium 8. Corinth 9. Thasos 10. Methymna 11. Byzantion 12. Istros 13. Sinope 14. Kelendris 15. Abdera 16. Perinthus 17. Myus 18. Thurii 19. Berytus 20. Tyre 21. Carteia 22. Side 23. Aegina 24. Megara 25. Pella Edited by DVCollector 02/14/2012 5:05 pm Report this Post to the Staff

echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 02/13/2012 11:18 pm Very interesting to see how they relate on the map. Report this Post to the Staff
DVCollector Bedrock of the Community United States 10045 Posts	Posted 02/13/2012 11:29 pm That's why I took the time to make it. Report this Post to the Staff
dougsmit Pillar of the Community United States 1549 Posts	Posted 02/14/2012 07:07 am It seems reasonable that wet animals might be used by wet cities but where are the equivalent coins of north Africa and the western Mediterranean? It might also be good to research any links between these cities - were they colonies of another? Also look for symbolism like the eagle defeating the dolphin in terms of inter-city relationships. It would be nice to understand what a person handling these coins when they were new would have thought the dolphin meant. Thanks for the map. Report this Post to the Staff
Doucet Pillar of the Community United States 1315 Posts	Posted 02/14/2012 08:50 am Nice thread DVcollector, great map. I agree there will be more cities that show dolphins on their coinage.Some of the bronzes probably won't be as nice of condition as all you have posted here but still will add to the total info. Olbia on the northern Black Sea had it's Dolphin money,(5th-4th century BC). One from Carteia on the southern coast of Spain. Berytus Dolphin's played a part in a number of Greek Myths as helpers of Gods and humankind and were sacred to Aphrodite and Apollo. The stories with dolphins had been around a long time before coinage began. http://www.pbs.org/odyssey/odyssey/...nscript.html Aristotle wrote about and studied dolphins, might be some good info in that. Report this Post to the Staff
DVCollector Bedrock of the Community United States 10045 Posts	Posted 02/14/2012 11:55 am Thanks for your comments and pictures! I agree the dolphins normally symbolize a lot of things positive--including money--so that may be the simple reason to picture them on coins. Still, it's interesting how all the coins I found are from coastal cities, including those Doucet found from Berytus and Carteia; I found one more from Carthage. That said, there are many coins from these same cities which don't have dolphins--so I'm not drawing any conclusions here. It would be "modern" to think the dolphins were simply decorative, but ancient art utilized more symbolism than today. Edited by DVCollector 02/14/2012 5:00 pm Report this Post to the Staff
maridvnvm Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 2100 Posts	Posted 02/14/2012 12:06 pm The map really is quite interesting. I have a few Taras, an Istros and a Sinope dolphin. This helps place them in a way I had not visualised up until now. Taras (I have three others too) Istros (I shared this recently) Sinope I haven't been using dolphins as a theme just collecting coins I like the look of. Martin Report this Post to the Staff
DVCollector Bedrock of the Community United States 10045 Posts	Posted 02/14/2012 12:27 pm Martin, those are really a beautiful group! I'm also collecting Greeks simply because I like their appearance. I have updated the map with a few more coins/locations--some from Roman provincial times. Edited by DVCollector 02/14/2012 2:11 pm Report this Post to the Staff
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